Dear Bridget and Peter,

Well, Marcie and I have now returned home and gained a sense of distance from our new idyll in Deux-Sèvres. The realities of London, work and our everyday lives have now well and truly been reawakened.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever be writing a letter 'in praise of an Estate Agent' but that's what I'm about to do! We wanted to say a really big 'thanks' to both of you for all the support you have given us over the past months.

I suppose there was an element of luck that we landed on your stand among the hundreds of others at the 'Live in France' exhibition in January but the fact remains that you were the only contacts we made at the exhibition who were pro-active and followed up our discussions. At first we just appreciated the emails and newsletters with all the information and alternative properties you sent but now, with hindsight, we realise that was an essential part of our purchasing process - the questions you asked and the alternatives we discussed helped us to clarify in our own minds what type of property and location we wanted.

We have already told you how grateful we were for the arrangements you made in helping us to view houses in the region - everything from booking us in to Jason Satterthwaite's lovely B&B through to planning the viewings - but once we had made the decision to purchase we felt total confidence in the guidance and advice which you so freely offered.

I would encourage you to continue and develop the 'menu' of additional services you offer clients - it not only makes good business sense for you but it was comforting for us to be able to select the services relevant to us from your 'menu' and to know that we would be met with helpfulness and understanding - and good value! - by the people you recommended. At a time when there were so many other administrative tasks surrounding the purchase to deal with, it was a major plus for us to be able to make a quick decision on some items and move on, knowing they would be dealt with effectively. We would particularly like to mention Foreign Currency Direct. They were infinitely more helpful with organising the financial transactions than our bankers and took the time to discuss the options available and alternative courses of action. We found their opinions valuable in guiding us to make the appropriate decisions.

Finally, thanks for all the help and support when we first moved down. We were glad you came to the Notaire with us on handover day and grateful for all the useful 'everyday tips' that helped us get on our feet quickly. I guess that in fact I haven't written a letter 'in praise of an estate agent' because in reality the all-round service you offered us was so much more. We know our experience of buying in France turned out to be relatively trouble-free but we are sure that a large part of that was thanks to you both for the care and attention you provided.

We're already planning how to maximise our time in Souvigne and hope that we'll soon have the pleasure of seeing you again and repaying some of your kindness and hospitality.

Best Regards,

Trevor & Marcie Battersby